Clutch



July 14, 1925. 1,545,629

. q c. c. WOOD I CLUTCH Filed Dec. 5, 1921 l I INVENTOR. b3- CZdrenc: G 6000i ATTORNEY.

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Patented July 14, 1925.

CLARENCE e. WOOD, or MUNCIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T Hoosmn c'Lu'rcH or MUNCIE, INDIANA, AeonroRArIoN. or INDIAN 1,545,629 PATENT OFFICE;

COMPANY,

] CLUTCH.

Application filed. December 5,1921. Serial No. 519,927..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE G. 001), a citizen of the United States, residing at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutches, of which.

the following is a specification.

The invention relates to clutches, and has for its object to provide a clutch unit self contained within its own housing and so constructed that it may be adjusted byrthe' manufacturer, then shipped to the user, particularly to automobile manufacturers who assemble the parts of an automobile, thereby allowing the self contained clutch to be easily and quicklyapplied to a flanged fly wheel without the necessity of adjusting the clutch as is at present the practice.

A further object is to provide a clutch unit comprising a casing formed from an annular casting, having-a supporting flange adapted to be secured to the flange of a fly wheel, said annular casting having disposed therein. a plurality of discs, some of which discs rotate with the casting and fly wheel, and the others with a driven member. Also to provide a pressure plate engaging the discs and rotatable with the annular casting, said pressure plate being forced in.- wardly by means of a spring interposed between the plate and a cover plate carried by studs extending outwardly from the side of the annular casting. The cover plate is easily removable for allowing the number of discs to be varied for transmitting the torque, for instance where the clutch'is used in connection with a small or heavy duty motor. I

l'Vith the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combinationand arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the inven-' tion may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit Figure 3 is a detail view looking into the annular clutch member,andshowing a portion; of the pressure ring. i 1

Figured is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale, through one edge of the cover plate, showing the securing'bolt therefor.

Referring to the drawings, the nruneral '1 designates a drive shaft which is secured by means of bolts 2 to a fly wheel 3, which fly wheel is of the typefwherein a chamber lis formed by an annular flangefi carried by the fly wheel. Disposedwithinthe jch'anr berl is the clutch 6, which clutch is self contained within. its own housing thereby allowing .the clutch unit as a whole to be adjusted at the time, of manufacture and shipped to point of assembly. in a motor vehicle or the like without the necessity of adjustment. 7 i l The clutch unit 6 comprises an annular .member 7 preferably a single casting, which annular member is provided with a flange 8 adapted to be secured to the outer side of the flange of the fly wheel, therefore it will be seen that the clutchunit as a whole may be easily and quickly attached to the fly wheel within the chamber at by means ofthe bolts 9, audas the clutch is already adjusted, it will not be n'ecessaryto again adjust the clutch. Secured to theinner side of the annular member 7. is a disc lO, which disc is held in place by means of screws 11 and has secured thereto by means of rivets .12 a fibre disc 13. .It will be seen that when the fly wheel .3 rotates, that the annular member 7 and the disc will also to a minimum.

.Secured to the inner periphery of the member 7 and transversely thereof by means of rivets 14 is a guide rib 15, which rib is received in the notches 16 of the discs 17, which discs are drive discs. the rib to the inner'periphery of the annular member 7, it will be seen. that the necessity of machining is obviated. Disposed between the drive discs 17 are driven discs 18, which discs surround a spider 19 carried by the driven shaft 20 and are axially movable thereon and rotatable therewith. The driven discs 18. are provided with recesses 21 which receive the rib 22 carried by the spider 19 and secured thereto By securing j is by the rivets 23. It will be seen that by so securing the rib 22, that machining or slot ting will be obviated and consequently the cost of'cons-truction reduced to a minimum. The drive discs 17 have secured theretofibre discs 24, which discs take up the Wear during clutch operations. Disposed within the annular member 7 is a pressure plate 25,

which plate is provided with an offset flange 26 which engages and has secured thereto a fibre disc 26 which in turn engages one of the driven discs 18.. The pressure plate 25 is secured at 27 to the inner end of the releasing sleeve 28 and is controlled in its in ward and outward movement during a clutch operation by said sleeve, or by the spring 29 which surrounds the driven shaft 20 and is interposed between the pressure plate and the cover plate 30, which cover plate is supported on'stud bolts 31 threaded into the outer edge of the annular member 7. It will be seen that by adjusting the cover plate "inwardly by tightening-the nuts 32 carried by the cover plate 30'that the tension on the spring 29 may be varied, thereby varying the frictional engagement of the clutch discs. It will also be seen that this adjustment may be made and the clutch unit shipped in adjusted condition. When it is desired to vary the pressure on the discs it will only be necessary to adjust the nuts 32. However if it is desired to change the number of discs, for instance to adjust the clutch unit for a light duty motor or fora heavy duty motor, the nuts 32 are removed,

then the cover plate and spring 29 are removed. After the cover plate and spring at equal distances from the outer face of the annular member 7, thereby allowing cotter pins 35 to be inserted through, apertures 3 1 of equal distance from the outer side of the annular member 7 and adjacent the outer faces 36 of the nuts after which the nuts can be unscrewed until they engage the cotter pins, and as the apertures 3 1 are equally spaced from theannular member 7, the cover {plate 30 will be held in parallel relation to the pressure plate 25, and consequently a uniform pressure will be applied to the discs.

.From the aboveit willbe seen that a selfcontained clutch unit is provided,- which unit is simple in construction, the parts reduced to a minimum, and which may be shipped assembled and in adjusted condition, thereby obviating the necessity of ad ,justment when applied to a fly Wheel. It will also be seen that machining has practically'been obviated by the parts being so constructed that many of them can be stamped. I e

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new and useful is:

;A-c-lutcl'1 comprising an annular casing, an

ing the clutch to an annular flange of a drive member, a plate carried by the inner face of the annular casing, a shaft rotatably mounted axially of the annular. casing, a spider carried by said shaft, discs axially movable on the spider and in the annular casing, detachable guide ribs carried by the spider and thecasing and disposed within the recesses of alternate discs, a pressure plate engaging the outerfdisc and having a notch engagement with the rib carried by the annular casing, studs extending outwardly from the outer side'of the annular casing, a cover plate carried by said studs, and a spring surrounding the shaft and interposed between the pressure plate and the cover plate.

. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLARENCE e. wooi). 

